Most of the time, when friends decide to meet for a meal they select a neighborhood eatery. However, for Jim Holbrook of Gurnee and Bob Jacobsen of Inverness, the location might just as well be Manitowoc, Wisconsin, or Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Buddies for more than a half-century after meeting as U.S. Army Reserves paratroopers, Jacobsen and Holbrook are members of the Stick and Rudder Flying Club at Waukegan National Airport. On occasion, they will fly to breakfast or lunch.
“We get an email asking, ‘Who wants to have breakfast in Kalamazoo Sunday,’” Jacobsen said. “Five, six or seven of us fly there, eat and fly back.”
Holbrook and Jacobsen were honored with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award on Aug.10 at the Waukegan National Airport by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for their 50 or more years with an unblemished record in the air.
Steve Ulrey of Lake Bluff, another member of the club and a longtime friend of both Jacobsen, 90, and Holbrook, 81, nominated them for the award. He arranged the ceremony earlier this month.
“This award is made by the FAA for 50 years or more of safe, regular flying,” Ulrey said. “That includes no accidents, incidents or violations. Jim was a United (Airlines) captain, and has 28,000 hours in the air with United.”
Before Holbrook and Jacobsen met in 1966, Jacobsen enlisted in the Army in 1952, served three years on active duty and then joined the Reserves until retiring in 1976.
Upon leaving the regular Army, Jacobsen taught fifth grade and then sixth before learning about the federal government’s involvement with special education. It was starting to develop in the 1950s. He got involved with the program and obtained a graduate degree.
“I had kids who had trouble learning in my classes, and I wanted to help them,” Jacobsen said. “Some had behavioral issues, and some had learning issues. This gave me a chance to do something progressive with my life and I did.”
For much of his career as an educator, Jacobsen said he was the director of special education for Maine Township High School District 207. He learned to fly in 1971, and continues to pilot a plane.
Working as an accountant for Price Waterhouse in 1966, a friend suggested Holbrook do the same type of work for United Airlines. He said a condition of working there was joining the U.S Army Reserves to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam.
Called to active duty for eight months, Holbrook learned how to jump out of airplanes before he knew how to fly them. Learning how to fly, he asked United to let him become a pilot rather than an accountant.
“I applied when I had 300 hours of flying,” he said. “They said no. I needed 500 hours. I took a leave, flew 40 hours a week for five weeks to get my 500 hours. I became a United pilot. I was a flight engineer, a co-pilot and then a captain.”
Just as Holbrook and Jacobsen occasionally fly out-of-state for meals and then return the same day, they have taken vacations together through the air, seeing unusual places like Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada or Moab, Utah.
“You just land where you see an airstrip,” Jacobsen said. “Sometimes it’s paved, and sometimes it’s grass. When you land, you just take your luggage with you or leave it on the plane. We camped most of the time.”
On the trip to Yellowknife, Jacobsen said they were captivated by the “remoteness.” Holbrook said they were close to the tree line, where timber does not grow.
“The pine trees were knee high,” Holbrook said.
Flying to Moab, Jacobsen and Holbrook visited Arches National Park on one of their vacations together. There was a lot of camping and hiking through the area, as well as a drive on a very narrow road.
“It was a narrow road with switchbacks,” Holbrook said. “The mountain views were just magnificent.”